Night owls are wealthier and wiser than larks, study finds

They are frequently stereotyped as lazy, indisciplined or hedonistic.

Now, however, research on teenagers has found that those who burn the midnight oil are generally brighter and wealthier than early risers.

A study of around 1000 teenagers by the University of Madrid seen by the Independent found that those who preferred to stay up late exhibited the kind of intelligence associated with better jobs and higher salaries.

Researchers looked at the habits and body clocks of the youths and determined whether they liked to stay up late or rise early.

Their school performance, inductive reasoning (or problem solving abilities), academic grades and major subjects were also examined in the study.

Night owls performed better than early risers at inductive reasoning and demonstrated a greater capacity to think conceptually as well as analytically.

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These abilities have been linked to innovative thinking, more prestigious occupations and better incomes.

Larks, however, tended to do better in school - prompting researchers to theorise that evening types might be disadvantaged by morning school schedules.

Other research has supported the findings of the study. One piece of research showed that late risers among US Air Force recruits were better at lateral thinking than morning types, while a University of Southampton study found that night owls had bigger pay packets and higher standards of living overall.

Famous night owls include President Obama, Charles Darwin, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley.

By contrast, famous larks include Napoleon, Ernest Hemingway and George W Bush - who is reportedly always in bed by 10pm.

Professor Jim Horne, of Loughborough University, said: "Evening types tend to be the more extrovert creative types, the poets, artists and inventors, while the morning types are the deducers, as often seen with civil servants and accountants.

"We have looked at morning and evening types and we found that personalities tended to be different. Evening types were more social, more people-oriented. They will probably be good at cryptic crosswords, while morning types go for the more logical ones."